FaintHearted
by Mewglegirl
Summary: What might have been a peaceful shopping trip is quickly spoiled by a certain silver-haired nuisance. The situation quickly takes a turn for the weird. End-game spoilers. One-shot. Next-level songfic, read to find out what that is. ;P Rated T to be safe.


Neku groaned under the strain of the countless shopping bags he was carrying. Even with Shiki's return to her normal self, and even after she stopped imitating Eri, her love of shopping remained, and Neku had to suffer for it.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous," he grumbled.

"Come on, cheer up," Shiki encouraged him. "Here, you want me to carry some?"

_It's about time,_ Neku thought as he handed her five or six bags containing purses, shoes, and other bulky items she would undoubtedly be adding to the outfits that her and Eri created together. "Thanks," Neku said, forcing a smile onto his face. He couldn't help but wonder where she got the money to buy all of it. While carrying six plastic bags stuffed to their limit in addition to Mr. Mew proved somewhat tricky for the seamstress, years of practice kicked in and she somehow managed not to drop anything.

The two were about to make their way back to Eri's house so the girls could squeal over all the cute things they got, when they heard a noise. Incidentally, Neku had just walked past a deserted alleyway on his way past the Shibu Department Store, and the echoing sound that was suspiciously similar to footsteps seemed to be coming from down the dark corridor between the shops.

The footstep-like sound got louder, as though the person was coming closer. Neku stopped in his tracks and squinted as he searched the alleyway for movement. Shiki shot him a questioning look, but when she heard the sound as well, she followed Neku's lead.

The last thing either of them expected was for a certain silverette to jump out of the darkness and capture Neku's lips in a kiss.

There was a pause consisting of a few seconds that seemed to drag on for an eternity. Shiki stared, wide-eyed, not entirely sure whether to be happy to see Joshua again, angry at him for shooting Neku so long ago (two weeks since the end of that final Game), frustrated at him for kissing the one she maybe-kinda-sorta liked more than a friend, or a combination of the three, with some other random emotions thrown in for good measure.

Neku, on the other hand, was simply dumbstruck. He didn't feel anything, but something in the back of his head, something that somehow clung to functionality, thought, _Were those just violins I heard just now?_ even when he swore the only sound was the crash of shopping bags hitting the ground.

After about twenty seconds of awkward lip-lock, Joshua stepped back. He opened his mouth as though to say something, but before he could even form one word, Neku swung his fist around and punched the Composer right in his prissy little face. Joshua staggered back and struggled to regain his balance while Neku simply stood there, furious. In his mind, he was shouting all manner of swear words, but through the storm of rage, he noticed something. _There it is again,_ he thought. _Violins...and...guitars?_ Neku reached a hand to his neck to make sure his headphones weren't there.

Once Joshua was standing firmly, he looked equally angry. He silently mouthed the words "You just don't get it, do you" and clenched his hands into fists. "I am...a little bit of loneliness," he said quickly, hatefully, "a little bit of disregard..." Joshua gestured at his face, which Neku and Shiki saw glow white for a split second. "Handful of complaints, but I can't help the fact that everyone can see these scars!"

The two stared at him like he was insane. It wasn't because of his unusual dialogue, no...Neku stared because he couldn't believe that Joshua could _like_ him...of course, the redhead never doubted that his unwanted companion would lean more towards other men than women, but him, of all people...On the other hand, Shiki stared out of pure jealousy. She suddenly became very nervous.

"I am what I want _you_ to want, what I want you to _feel_," Joshua continued, now sounding more desperate than angry, "but it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you to just believe this is _real_..." He turned around, as though looking at Neku's face was too much for him to bear. "So I let go, watching you," he said almost sadly. "Turn your back like you always do...Face away and pretend that I'm not..." He faced Neku once more, a begging, pleading stare on his face, the likes of which Neku had never seen. "But I'll be here, 'cause you're all that I got..."

Neku took a few steps backward, away from the silverette, and stared at him like he had grown a second head. "I can't feel..." Neku muttered under his breath, "the way I did before..."

Joshua's eyes widened as Neku backed away from him. "Don't turn your back on me!" he shouted desperately. "I won't be ignored!"

"Time won't heal," Neku continued, "this damage anymore..." He took several more steps back while keeping his gaze locked on Joshua, as though in a trance.

Suddenly, Shiki spoke up. "Don't turn your back on me!" she shouted like Joshua had. He and Neku immediately looked at her. She'd snapped under the pressure, that much was obvious, but what Neku didn't know was that her outburst had been caused by her well-hidden feelings for him fighting through every scrap of her insecurity. Shiki glared first at Neku, then at Joshua. "I won't be ignored!" she said, with slightly less confidence in her voice.

With both of the boys' full attention, Shiki walked closer to Neku, her fingers laced together in front of her and her expression nervous but resolved. "I am a little bit insecure, a little unconfident...'cause you don't understand - I do what I can..." At that point, Shiki looked down, that resolve starting to crumble, but she took a deep breath and continued. "...But sometimes I don't make sense...I am what you never want to say, but I've never had a doubt...It's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you, for once, just to hear me out..."

Neku blinked, freshly dumbfounded. _What is she getting at?_ he thought.

"So I let go, watching you," she continued, "turn your back like you always do...Face away and pretend that I'm not, but I'll be here 'cause you're all that I got..."

It hit Neku like a ton of bricks. "I can't feel...the way I did before..." he near-whispered. _She likes me?_

"Don't turn your back on me! I won't be ignored!" Joshua shouted angrily when he lost Neku's attention, his voice cutting through the fog that was Neku's thoughts. All the orangette could do was switch his gaze between Joshua and Shiki, trying to figure out what he should do.

"Time won't heal this damage anymore..." he muttered, feeling rather confused. He started walking backwards again, away from the two root causes of the steep decline in the day's peace and quiet.

Shiki looked angry as well when she saw Neku's resolve falter. She thought that the two would be together forever, like some cheesy little fairy tale. He would be her prince. They would live happily ever after...if it weren't for Joshua. "Don't turn your back on me!" she shouted at Neku, trying to drive home the idea that she was the only one for him. "I won't be ignored!"

Neku looked at Shiki one last time...and his eyes stayed there. Feeling hurt and betrayed, Joshua totally lost it.

"_Noooooo!_"

The other two looked shocked at his outburst. It was so unlike Joshua to show so much emotion, much less to show frustration so openly.

"_Hear me out now!_"

It took Neku a few seconds to realize that Joshua's furious shouts were directed at him.

"_You're gonna listen to me, like it or not!_"

Just like that, the Composer's entire body glowed with power, and white orbs of energy surrounded his fists. Neku stared at him again, not with confusion, but with pure fear in his bright blue eyes. Joshua wasn't at full power, considering that the three of them were tuned to the RG - none of them knew or even cared why there weren't any bystanders who would see Joshua giving off bright flares of holy energy and call the police or something - but he was still rather menacing.

"Right now!" Joshua growled.

Her resolve steeled, Shiki's hands clenched into fists; she dropped Mr. Mew in the process. "Hear me out now!" she shouted, pointing a threatening finger at the Composer. She was done being pushed around, and she would have Neku at any cost. "You're gonna listen to me, like it or not! _Right now!_"

While Neku's best friend and his worst enemy stared each other down with the most furious glares he had ever seen in his life, he slowly backed away once more. "I can't feel...the way I did before..."

It didn't take long for Joshua and Shiki to realize that Neku seemed to be fleeing the scene. "Don't turn your back on me!" they both shouted at the redhead at exactly the same time. "_I won't be ignored!_"

Joshua snagged his orange cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open, furiously dialing numbers at breakneck speed. At the same time, the black plush doll sitting at Shiki's feet twitched to life. Neither of them cared about the impossibility of the situation; all they knew was that they were both willing to destroy each other for Neku.

Neku, on the other hand, just kept walking, although he just couldn't look away, no matter how hard he tried. Walking backwards sufficed.

Mr. Mew lunged at Joshua, scratching and slashing like a mad-cat while Shiki controlled him without even knowing how she was doing it. Joshua managed to sidestep most of it, levitating lightly off the ground so he could slide around much faster than if he had been walking, and he only suffered a few minor scratches. Punching a combination of numbers in on his phone's keypad, he smirked and waved his hand upwards.

A gigantic shadow was cast over Shiki and Mr. Mew. She looked up just in time to see a bright red SUV hurtling towards her, and she ran for her life, narrowly escaping the deadly vehicle's trajectory and flinching sharply when it hit the ground with a massive _CRASH._

_Screw this,_ Neku thought. He turned around and took off running as fast as he could, all the way to the station underpass. He didn't look back once.

* * *

><p>The song is Faint, by Linkin Park. This is what I see when I hear it. It makes what would've been a depressing breakup song very silly, don't you think? :P I don't have the Flash skills to make an actual animation, so I had to settle for this.<p>

The World Ends With You belongs to Square-Enix.


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